Sports Med

What are the benefits of exercise? How do we understand wellness to make decisions about what to include and what to discard in our daily lives? What's useful, should be done in moderation, done later or not done at all? Go with us to learn more.

Are Girls More Prone to ACL Injuries?

Intermountain studies how to prevent these injuries in youth soccer. ​

​The problem. Females are three times more likely to injure their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) while playing soccer than males. ACL injury prevention programs involving stretching and strengthening drills can reduce the incidence (development) of ACL injury when they’re a part of routine training, but it’s hard to know how many coaches use these programs.

The study. Intermountain and University of Utah researchers asked:

How prevalent are ACL injury programs?

What factors that can increase use of these prevention programs by soccer coaches?

How can we better design injury prevention programs, and what’s the best way to disseminate injury prevention information to coaches?

The study focused on more than 700 coaches of female soccer players age 11 - 22 years in Utah. According to the study, only 20 percent of coaches have implemented an ACL injury prevention program. The main factors that determine whether a coach implements a prevention program include amount of coaching experience, and presence of additional coaching staff like a strength and conditioning coach or having an athletic trainer.

The coaches who HAD implemented an injury prevention program agreed that:

There are immediate performance-enhancing benefits of injury prevention programs

Education on ACL injury prevention should be required for coach licensure

Soccer associations will have to REQUIRE these injury prevention programs if there’s any hope of widespread program adoption

The bottom line. A minority of girls soccer coaches have implemented ACL injury prevention programs. Those who have implemented programs have done so because they believe prevention improves performance, and that soccer organizations should enact policies requiring ACL injury prevention education. Soccer organizations should emphasize performance-enhancing benefits of these programs, and encourage engaging additional coaching staff.

About the author

Liz Joy, MD, MPH I am the Medical Director for Outcomes Research for Clinical Programs at Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City. In addition, I practice Family Medicine and Sports Medicine with the Orthopedic Specialty Group at the Avenues Specialty Clinic by LDS Hospital. I am a Professor at the University of Utah in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine.

The views and content of this blog do not necessarily reflect the policies of Intermountain Healthcare. The content in these blogs should not be taken over advice of your care provider. As always, in the event of an emergency find care immediately.